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I was wondering if OS X keeps temp files? For example, if I downloaded a program, will there be another copy somewhere? Like in windows, the machine first downloads to it's temp file THEN copies it to whatever place you told it to save to. The temp file remains and takes up lots of space.

Also, I noticed that when creating a CD/DVD image, the image file doesn't appear in the target directory until the operation is complete. So while it is copying the 7+ gigs, where does OS X store it? And if I cancel the operation, is a huge temp file of 3-4 gigs left somewhere on the hard drive taking up space?

Can you please answer as many of my queries separately as possible? I'm pretty new so need as much detail as possible.

The reason you dont see the image file is because the Finder doesn't update until you click on it/do something with it. As far as keeping temp files, it pretty much depends on the program.If there is an error, it probably will keep them. If it is a successful download, usually not.

I was wondering if OS X keeps temp files? For example, if I downloaded a program, will there be another copy somewhere? Like in windows, the machine first downloads to it's temp file THEN copies it to whatever place you told it to save to. The temp file remains and takes up lots of space.

This is a very strange Internet Explorer habit only. All other browsers don't do this. On a Mac, it just downloads to the desktop and that's all it does.